Which to use
“médio” and “mesmo” are a confusable Portuguese pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #994
- “médio” frequency rank
- #56
- “mesmo” frequency rank
- 1050
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | médio | mesmo |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | que está a meio caminho entre dois extremos | que tem igualdade de caráter |
Where the eye mixes médio and mesmo
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses médio with mesmo
A purely visual mix-up. médio (/ˈmɛ.dju/) and mesmo (/ˈmeʒ.mu/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 1050, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
médio is recorded at frequency rank #994, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈmɛ.dju/. mesmo is at rank #56, tagged as anadj, pronounced /ˈmeʒ.mu/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 1050, this pair ranks #74,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of médio vs mesmo
Shared letters: mo. Private to "médio": dié. Private to "mesmo": es.
"médio" · 5 letters · shape CVCVV · "mesmo" · 5 letters · shape CVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- mesmo ← emsmo · memso · mesmmo · mesom · messmo · mmesmo · msemo
Frequently Asked Questions
Is swapping "médio" for "mesmo" ever safe?
Frequency check: "médio" vs "mesmo" - which ranks higher?
What to do next
Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.
- Full dictionary entry for "médio" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mesmo" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #74,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "médio" and "mesmo" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mesmo vs muso". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #74,578 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.